Ethete man condemned for meth charges in connection with the Duarte and Ortiz-Esparza trials

(Fremont County, WY) – Collie Warren of Ethete was sentenced to 84 months in prison for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine at his sentencing hearing today, August 22, before Honorable Chief District Judge Kelly H. Rankin in Cheyenne.

Warren was also ordered to serve five years of supervised release and pay $500 in community restitution, plus a $100 special assessment fee.

Warren was charged and sentenced after a federal warrant was issued for his arrest in connection with a drug operation involving two Mexican nationals who were found to be distributing drugs on the Wind River Reservation. (The two Mexican nationals, Oscar Espinoza Duarte and German Ortiz-Esparza, have also been sentenced.)

According to court documents, Warren visited Espinoza’s home in Kinnear on February 6 and then left with a red item/package in his hands.

Agents kept an eye on Warren and followed him to Ethete, where he parked in a convenience store parking lot and entered the store, but when he left, he got into the passenger seat of another vehicle.

Agents observed the red package (determined to be a red Budweiser beer box) from outside Warren’s truck, which was still parked at the store. Inside was a clear baggie containing a crystalline substance consistent with methamphetamine.

Agents later discovered two baggies inside the box, each containing approximately one pound of methamphetamine, court documents stated.

After two months and no leads, the FBI offered a $5,000 reward in April for information leading to Collie’s arrest. He was arrested two days later.

Warren later pleaded “not guilty” to the charge in April; however, a non-public plea agreement was filed on his behalf on June 2, and a change of plea hearing was scheduled, resulting in today’s sentencing.

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